


Between Land and Sea

by IntotheStarkerVerse (IntotheStarkerverse)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 10:32:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19851316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntotheStarkerverse/pseuds/IntotheStarkerVerse
Summary: A prompt fill for Day Three of Starker Week:  Gold, Red, and Blue.A fairy tale AU involving a human prince, a merprince and starker goodness...





	Between Land and Sea

Once, long ago, in a world far away, there were two kingdoms. One of the land. One of the sea. The land was ruled by the Red King. Monarch of the race of man, he was a hard-hearted king who cared only for wealth and power. He coveted everything of value and strove to raise his son to follow a similar ilk thereby increasing the power and influence of man long after his death.

Prince Tony was not like his father, however. He was a tender-hearted lad who hid a sensitive soul behind sarcasm and wit. He disguised his own anguish at his father’s disappointment behind a seeming desire to draw his disapproval. None was the wiser, and that was how the prince preferred it.

The kingdom of the sea was ruled by the benevolent Blue Queen. Though she was not regent by birth, she had been named thus such the death of the previous King and Queen until such a time as their only son, and the crown prince, came of age. She had not been instructed in how to rule a kingdom since her youth as most monarchs, though her desire to listen to even the most lowly of citizens and their concerns whilst serving the needs of all made her a much beloved Queen and allowed the the kingdom of the sea to prosper.

There was never peace between land and sea. 

King Howard was always envious of the gold and jewels that were found aplenty beneath the oceans. He believed the Merkin who dwelt beneath the seas were magical and that their bodies could be used to prolong his life and provide him with much coveted power. He placed bounties on their heads and rewarded any and all citizens who brought forth wealth stolen from the depths of the sea.

For a time, the sea did not retaliate. The Queen was anxious to avoid conflict and the loss of life that would accompany it..but lives were being lost nonetheless and she feared that there was no way to end the feud between land and sea without slaying the Red King.

Warriors were dispatched and the full force of the ocean kingdom rained down upon the land, felling Stark Tower and forcing the Red King to retreat further inland. Furious at his loss, he swore revenge and promised to wipe the Merkin from the seas once and for all.

The Red King did not notice the absence of his prince for a number of days. He did not finish combing the wreckage of the Tower for a senight. Only then did he and his advisers come to the startling conclusion that the Red Prince had been taken captive by the Merkin. They had a hostage, and no matter how much King Howard detested his disappointment of a son, he could not allow his legacy to be destroyed by his greatest enemy. He would get the Prince Tony back…even if that meant painting the blue seas red with blood.

The merkin knew that the King’s vengeance would be swift and brutal, they knew that he would spare no effort in finding his lost prince. So, they hid the young man on a secluded island many leagues from the land where no boat of man had ever traveled. He was guarded by flanks of mermen armed to the teeth and prepared to kill him if he proved to be as dangerous as his father.

Prince Tony was also accompanied by the crown prince of the seas. It had been Prince Peter who begged his aunt to spare the other royal’s life and bring him back as a prisoner of war. “King Howard will never give us peace, May. As long as he’s alive, he will target us…but if we can reach his son, than there could still be peace for generations to come…”

May had been unconvinced, but her nephew was fast approaching the day that he would mature into the crown and her days of ruling would be behind her. She though to let him have this one boon to test his readiness and his ability as a king.

Determined not to fail, Prince Peter was dispatched a diplomatic envoy to the island prison of the Red Prince to attempt to broker peace between land and sea…

~~~~

Peter paced the beach, enjoying the feel of sand between his toes. He had never had legs before and he was intrigued by their mechanics, by the sensations, by the ungainliness of them. Walking seemed much slower than swimming. It lacked the grace of the water. On land he felt heavy, in the sea he felt buoyant, weightless, free. He failed to understand what had intrigued men so about the land. 

Periodically, his gaze traveled to the figure asleep beneath the temporary structure the guards had erected to provide him with shelter. The Red Prince rested on a bed of palm fronds woven by Peter’s own hands, and slept fitfully only because he had been drugged upon his capture.

Bored, Peter began to test the limits of legs. He balanced on his toes, rocked back to his heals. He jumped. Fell. And then jumped again. He twirled across the sand, attempted the same flips and somersaults that came so easily beneath the seas, and discovered that they were not impossible with legs just…slightly more difficult. It was only after he had managed to land a flip and was celebrating in a spinning dance across the sand that he caught sight of the Red Prince propped up on his elbows watching Peter intently. “Oh, you’re…you’re awake.”

“Is this the afterlife?”

Peter giggled, “No, no no, not the afterlife. Just an island.”

Tony sat up fully, press a hand to his forehead for a moment before he nodded. “How did I get here?”

“You were brought here.”

“By?”

“My guards.”

Tony quirked an eyebrow at him. “And who are you?”

Peter squared his shoulders and attempted to make himself taller. It was funny, beneath the sea he did not feel short, but on land…he feared his stature was not very impressive to behold. “Peter, Crown Prince of the Merkin.”

Peter noted the emotions that flashed across the Red Prince’s handsome features. He looked surprised, amused, and finally intrigued.

“Well, Peter, is there any particular reason that you and I seem to be alone on this island?”

“Oh, we’re not alone. There are guards. Quite a few of them actually. They’re…nearby. Should I need help or should anyone come looking for you..you’ll see them.”

“And…I’m on an island with you because…”

“You’re my…”

“Prisoner?”

“I was going to say guest.”

That made Tony laugh and Peter paused, enjoying the rich sound that seemed to fill him with warmth to the tips of his newly acquired toes. “Aren’t guests usually invited, Peter?”

The Blue Prince blushed deeply, sputtering softly before he spun to face the sea and muttered a soft, “You wouldn’t have come if I’d invited you.”

“Oh, I think you might be surprised what I’d do for you if you asked.”

That comment drew a look of surprise and curiosity thrown over Peter’s shoulder back in Tony’s general direction. The corners of his lips twitched into a small smile and the boy crossed the distance between them, falling to his knees in the sand beside the Red Prince. “What if I asked you for peace between land and sea? An end to the war and the murder and the pillaging. What then?”

Tony reached out, running the backs of his fingers along the jaw of the Blue Prince. “I think…if I could be convinced, Little One, you’d be the one to do it.”

~~~

Tony would never admit it aloud, but he was enjoying his captivity. Life on the island was simpler than it had been on land. He no longer had to contend with his father. For the first time in his young life, he was free of expectations and his father’s looming shadow. It did not hurt that his only companion was the delectable prince of the Merkin.

Peter was unlike anyone he had ever met. Shy at first, he stumbled over his words and flushed under Tony’s gaze so much that it made the young man note, “I think if someone met us and knew nothing of our kingdoms, Peter, they’d be much more likely to think you were the Red Prince and not me.” He reached up to brush his fingers over the boy’s brilliant cheeks which had just grown a deeper shade of red at Tony’s comment. “It’s all right, Peter. It’s cute.”

He was cute. Darling, really. He seemed enamored with legs and spent much of his free time dancing and tumbling across the beach. He ran for the sheer delight of running, and after the drug had worked it’s way from his system, Tony joined him. They ran until their lungs burned and they could run no further, than the collapsed on a new expanse of beach, laying on their backs and staring up at the endless blue sky over their heads.

Tony hoped if he never gave the boy what he wanted that they might stay there forever. Of course, he knew that was a dream that would never come true.

“That cloud looks a little like a dog,” Tony pointed to a puffy cloud overhead and turned to see the look of confusion on Peter’s face. “Oh, never seen one have you?”

Peter shook his head. “Maybe…when you return home, when there’s peace, you could show me what the land is really like. I’d…I’d really like to see it.”

Tony nodded, his gaze distant now. “I suppose I can’t ask to the see the sea, can I?”

Peter laughed, “Oh, but you can! We aren’t as different as you think, Tony. You could live beneath the sea if you wanted to, you’ve just forgotten how. My people tell the story of how long, long ago a group of Merkin grew tired of sharing the seas and took to land to claim it for themselves. There was so much unclaimed land that those Merkin stayed on land for generations until they forgot they were Merkin at all. But you are, you know? Just like me. You all are. You just…need to be taught to remember how.”

Tony’s dark eyes were shining as he stared at the beautiful boy beside him. “Not so different, huh?”

“No, you have as much magic as me or any of my people…you always have. I could…I could show you if you wanted. I could teach you. If…if I knew there was going to be peace.”

“Peter, I’ve got no interest in going to war with you and your people. I promise you, when Howard is gone…the war is over.” The smile Peter gave him was so bright that Tony wished he could offer the boy something better than peace.

~~~

Peter began by teaching Tony to swim. They laughed and splashed in the shallow ocean water, Peter displaying amazing patience as he taught the other man things that most Merkin were born knowing. The first few days Tony was a spluttering, choking mess, and every night he dragged himself onto the beach and collapsed with his chest heaving. Still he smiled and promised to return to his lessons the next morning to please Peter. Always to please Peter.

Holding his breath proved to be extremely difficult, and even Peter’s patience was tempted by the man’s lack of confidence. “If you can’t even hold your breath, how are you going to ever learn to breathe underwater?”

Tony glared playfully at the boy over their dinner of oysters, shaking an empty half-shell at him. “You’re beginning to sound like Howard. You sure that’s a place you want to be?”

Peter grimaced, “I don’t really sound like him, do I?” Tony had told the boy tales of the Red King and he had no doubt that Peter was not keen on being compared to the man that Tony despised more than any other.

“A little bit, but…I know something you could do to make a clear distinction between the two of you?”

“What?”

“Kiss me.”

Peter’s mouth opened in a surprised little gasp, “I…”

“You’re telling me you don’t want to?”

“No…no…I didn’t say that…”

Tony cocked his head expectantly. “Than why are your lips all the way over there, huh?”

With an embarrassed little giggle, Peter crawled closer across the beach, bracing the palm of his hand against Tony’s chest as he slowly leaned in.

“Do Merkin not kiss?”

“Oh no, no, we definitely kiss. In fact, I think we kiss better than man…”

“Let me be the judge of that,” Tony seized Peter, fingers nesting in his salt water curls as he pulled the boy forward into his lap and nearly consumed him in a kiss. The tension had been building for weeks as he watched the boy cavort across the island on his legs and swim in the ocean waves. He was so damn graceful, so beautiful, so sweet and innocent and good. He was everything Tony’s life had been missing, and the kiss only proved it.

“Why do we want to stop at peace, Peter?” Tony asked the question breathlessly, his forehead pressed against the Blue Prince’s forehead. “You say our people were the same once, why can’t they be the same again? Unite the land and sea into something new…well, old, but new to us.”

“How…”

“Marry me. You’re going to be king beneath the seas soon. My father isn’t going to live forever. He’s lost Stark Tower, he’s weak, now and when he’s gone…the Red Kingdom will follow me.”

Peter was flushed again, straddling Tony’s lap, hands resting at his chest and breath dancing over Tony’s lips in warm puffs as he considered his words. “Do you really think we could?”

“Wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t think we could.”

“What…what would we call it?”

This made Tony pause as he considered. “Not Red or Blue. Those colors are divisive. We want to bring our people together. Gold. Gold because what we want to do is priceless to everyone in both of our kingdoms.”

“And we would both be king…”

“Yes.”

“And we would live…”

“On land and sea. Equally. Just like our citizens could if they chose.” Tony captured Peter’s hand in his own, entwining their fingers. “Say yes. I know there are things we still need to work out, like who our successors would be since we couldn’t have children of our own…”

“We could, though.”

“What?” Tony paused, drawing back slightly. “We could what?”

“Have children.” Peter giggled. “More magic man has forgotten.”

Tony stared at the boy for several long seconds before he cleared his throat. “Well, then, there really is nothing stopping us…but you.”

“Oh, I’m not stopping us…but you really are going to have to work harder on your swimming lessons, Tony. A Merkin wedding takes an entire lunar cycle to perform…”

“What?!”

Peter giggled, shifting to press his lips to Tony’s ear. “Don’t worry, most of it requires us to be alone in a bed chamber consummating the vows…”

Tony nearly dumped him from his lap in his haste to stand. “What are we waiting for? I feel up for a swim, don’t you?”

Peter’s laughter could be heard ringing through the island as he chased Tony down the beach to the water’s edge…

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry, I have not forgotten 'Time of Our Lives' and am hard at work on the final installment. I am just taking a little time off to partake in the prompts for Starker Week!
> 
> Follow me on tumblr: @intothestarkerverse


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